Well, much to all our mutual disappointments, I'm not back in Bozeman. Instead I am writing this from my bedroom in Tumut.
The plan all along was to fly out of Wagga to Sydney and from there to Los Angeles. Because of bad weather in Wagga, I missed my China Air flight, but they flight was changed from China Airlines to Qantas which was good since this was now a direct flight. Because of numerous weather delays I only just made it onto the international flight to Los Angeles. The 13 hour flight was uneventful and fortunately I was up against a bulkhead so at least I could stretch my legs a bit. Because I was right up the front of economy I was able to get off quickly when we finally arrived. This got me to the Immigration queue ahead of a lot of people since previously I'd been stuck in that line for 3 hours.
When I got to the front of the line I thought I had everything in order. However after a minute the guy said that my visa had expired. This is where things get more complicated, since although I knew my visa was expired, I was able to re-enter the US from Vancouver this time last year with it. The basic problem is that there are special rules for Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean which allow you to do this, but this doesn't apply to Australia. It was this information which I didn't know.
The INS people interviewed me and after several hours it was decided that I wouldn't be able to enter the US and that I would be sent back. This doesn't count as “deported” I just had to go back and get a new visa. This however involves a 13 hour plane trip and a 12 hour wait for the next plane. The took a whole bunch of photos, fingerprinted me and then once that was all done they arranged to have me taken back over to the “waiting” room. This involved them taking my shoelaces and belt and then handcuffing my hands behind my back and bussing me down to another part of the terminal. There they put me in a room with a few other people and a whole slew of security guards who seemed pretty bored. The had a television and thankfully a phone. I called my parents and the woman in the international office at MSU who wasn't able to help very much.
I waited there for about 5 hours until my flight was ready to leave. The took me through security and put me on the plane right up the back before the other passengers were boarded. The flight back was another 13 hours and thankfully I slept through much of that. When I arrived in Sydney (again) my Dad was there to meet me which was really great as I needed to see a friendly face.
Our plan of attack was to go to the US embassy in the city to try and get a new visa. This used to be fairly easy, just a matter of walking in and applying. When we arrived however, we weren't even allowed to get near the elevator. Instead now all applications have to go through the postal service. Not having much other choice we got together the necessary documents (thank heavens for internet cafes). I filled out all the forms and dropped that off at the post office next door. In theory what should happen next is that sometime next week they will post back my passport and include a time for an “visa interview”. When that interview will be I don't know, hopefully only a week or two away. I'll take all my other documents and more money to the interview and if everything works out then they will renew my J visa for the remainder of my contract. At that point I can fly back into the US.
That's the good scenario. The bad scenario would be that for whatever reason the don't renew my visa. If this happened, I'd fly back to the US but as a tourist which means I have 90 days in the country. This at least would allow me to pay my rent and explain things to people at MSU. Since my boss already wanted to get me on a H visa this might be the next step if this happens.
The whole thing was pretty distressing, and at times I was sobbing terribly. My voice was almost completely gone due to my flu and that didn't help at all. I am lucky that I'm at home where it is warm rather than being stuck in Vancouver all over again. I suppose if my problems last year are any guide, then this will take about 2 to 3 weeks to resolve. The email yesterday was brief as Dad and I were running around the city, so I hope this long one clears things up somewhat.